Egyptians Work to Protect Ancient Relics From Looting Protestors
- Posted on January 28, 2011 at 5:31pm by
Meredith Jessup
- Print »
- Email »
The Egyptian National Museum in Cairo houses more than 120,000 historical antiquities, including the solid-gold death mask of one of Egypt’s most famous ancient kings, Tutankhamen (Tut). 
As protesters fire-bombed a number of government buildings in Cairo, fire quickly spread to areas immediately adjacent to the world-renowned museum. In addition, many feared looters would break into the museum and destroy any number of priceless artifacts. The Associated Press reports that a number of protesters formed a “human chain” around the building to try and keep out potential looters:
One man pleaded with people outside the museum’s gates on Tahrir Square not to loot the building, shouting at the crowd: “We are not like Baghdad.” After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, thieves carted off thousands of artifacts from the National Museum in Baghdad — only a fraction of which have been recovered.
Suddenly other young men — some armed with truncheons taken from the police — formed a human chain outside the main entrance in an attempt to protect the collection inside.
“I’m standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure,” said one of the men, Farid Saad, a 40-year-old engineer.
Another man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it “has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we’ll never find it again.”
Now, according to Reuters, the Egyptian army has stepped in to secure the museum and protect its precious collection:
Army units secured the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo against possible looting on Friday, protecting a building with spectacular pharaonic treasures such as the death mask of the boy king Tutankhamun, state TV said. The news follows a day of violent anti-government protests in Cairo and other cities. Some of the most violent scenes in four days of protests have been in squares and streets close to the museum building.
It was also broadcast as reports of looting of some government buildings emerged. One Reuters photographer said looters had broken into a ruling party building near the museum and were walking out with furniture, computers and other items.
Well-known Egyptian film director Khaled Youssef had earlier called on the army to ensure the museum was protected, in comments to the Al Arabiya television channel. “I am calling on the Egyptian army to head instantly to the Egyptian museum. There is a fire right next to it in the (ruling) Party headquarters,” said Youssef, who has directed movies critical of government policies.
State TV carried a brief headline saying the army had secured the museum but did not give any more details.
Comments (12)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 687 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 536 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 453 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 374 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 333 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 298 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 309 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 202 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 301 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 298 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Bernard
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:36pmThe vandalism and looting of Egyptian art and artifacts reminds me of what the Taliban did to Afghanistan’s museums.
Report Post »When Alexander the Great invaded northwest India (now Afghanistan and Pakistan) they left behind the Hellenistic art which joined with Hindu art to create the first Buddha image, under the Ghandaran school of art. Eventually Alexander’s contribution spread across Asia.
Then the Taliban destroyed all that remained of that great period of art when western and eastern traditions united to create the image of the Buddha.
Now I see the same actions done by the extremists in Egypt. These people DO NOT want Democracy they want a theocracy along the lines of Iran and with the same tolerance as the Afghani Taliban.
christos
Posted on January 30, 2011 at 9:49amTower of Babel-Ba”al.
Report Post »Honest Abe
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 8:21pmThis shows there are good honest people everywhere in the world. The U.S. should stand with these people. They are the kind of people that should be the true face of Islam. Not the radical killers we see way too often.
Report Post »DeltaHawk
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 5:59pmI hope Obama doesn’t turn this into a “ Jimmy Carter” moment and help the Islamist radicals take over Egypt, the way they did Iran. If they get a bunch of Democrats over there, those treasure s will be “HISTORY”
Report Post »They will steal anything of value, as they have proved countless times in America.
Wilma
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 3:31pmThat protesters protected the museum speaks volumes about the Egyptians. They are a good people. Pray the radicals don’t gain control.
Report Post »lana720
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 10:10pmWilma, when they do gain control, they will destroy the Pyramids. Pray for the Christian Egyptians and the decent people, too small in number. Pray for Israel, especially.
Report Post »I think the news media here including Fox, is trying to make the news into what they think it should be, not what it is.
The ****** brotherhood is BAD news; they spawned Hizbollah and Hamas. And zippy tells Mubarak to listen to them – really! They are his brothers, not ours.
twofoot_trucker
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 2:41pmGlad to see people are trying to protect their history. It doesn’t look good for these artifacts if the islamists take control. I wouldn’t put it past them to destroy these treasures because they are not of islam.
Report Post »scout n ambush
Posted on January 28, 2011 at 11:44pmI hope their treasures are safe they are priceless artifacts this is the only good news so far .We have seen what has happened in other places where looters run wild. But on a lighter note i am reminded of Barrack Obama’s first visit to Egypt as P.O.T.U.S when the Egyptians noticed the uncanny similarities between the facial features of King Tut & B Obama .
Report Post »twofoot_trucker
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 2:44pmNo, we have seen what happens when muslims run wild. Remember the Taliban and the Buddha statues they destroyed. Islam is an evil mental illness that cannot tolerate anything that doesn’t conform to its twisted standards of conduct.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on January 28, 2011 at 10:43pmI love the fact that a number of protesters made a human chain around the building to keep looters out. I’m also glad that the Army was able to protect the irreplaceable artifacts. I pray that the violence stops soon & the loss of life ceases.
Report Post »PreserveOurFreedoms
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 2:05pmObama’s birth certificate has better security around it than the treasures of ancient Egypt.
OY!
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on January 29, 2011 at 3:13pmdontbotherme, not at all like New Orleans after hurricane Katrina when the cops were also looting the stores.
Report Post »